Some congregations disagree with Court's decision, while others ready to join couples in holy union

Couples wait in line to have a marriage licenses issued at the Harris County Clerk's office Friday. In a 5-4 decision, the Supreme Court legalized same-sex marriage nationwide, striking down the remaining bans in Texas and a dozen other states. Justice Anthony Kennedy wrote the decision. less

Couples wait in line to have a marriage licenses issued at the Harris County Clerk's office Friday. In a 5-4 decision, the Supreme Court legalized same-sex marriage nationwide, striking down the remaining bans ... more

Photo: Brett Coomer, Staff

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Houston’s Congregation Beth Israel will perform same-sex marriage.

Houston’s Congregation Beth Israel will perform same-sex marriage.

Photo: Johnny Hanson / Houston Chronicle

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Lakewood Church is the largest church in the U.S., with some 43,500 people attending services each week. The church will continue to regard marriage as between one man and one woman.

Lakewood Church is the largest church in the U.S., with some 43,500 people attending services each week. The church will continue to regard marriage as between one man and one woman.

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Karen Horn, left, kisses Karen Bradley, and Sergio Sarmiento, center left, and Christoper Rigdon kiss as they are pronounced married in a mass ceremony on Feb. 12, 2005, at the Resurrection Metropolitan Community Church in Houston. More than 40 gay and lesbian couples were married in the Freedom to Marry Day Wedding Celebration. less

Karen Horn, left, kisses Karen Bradley, and Sergio Sarmiento, center left, and Christoper Rigdon kiss as they are pronounced married in a mass ceremony on Feb. 12, 2005, at the Resurrection Metropolitan ... more

Photo: BRETT COOMER, HOUSTON CHRONICLE

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Jo Boardman, left, and Patti Simon light a candle together during a wedding ceremony for same-sex couples Feb. 12, 2005, at the Resurrection Metropolitan Community Church in Houston.

Jo Boardman, left, and Patti Simon light a candle together during a wedding ceremony for same-sex couples Feb. 12, 2005, at the Resurrection Metropolitan Community Church in Houston.

Photo: BRETT COOMER, HOUSTON CHRONICLE

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Linda Marin, front left, and her partner Eva Olivares sit with a group of gay and lesbian couples as they wait to be married Feb. 12, 2005, at the Resurrection Metropolitan Community Church in Houston.

Linda Marin, front left, and her partner Eva Olivares sit with a group of gay and lesbian couples as they wait to be married Feb. 12, 2005, at the Resurrection Metropolitan Community Church in Houston.

Photo: BRETT COOMER, HOUSTON CHRONICLE

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Rev. Clark Chamberlain performs the Statement of Intent to couples participating in the mass wedding ceremony for gay and lesbian couplesFeb. 12, 2005, at the Resurrection Metropolitan Community Church in Houston. less

Rev. Clark Chamberlain performs the Statement of Intent to couples participating in the mass wedding ceremony for gay and lesbian couplesFeb. 12, 2005, at the Resurrection Metropolitan Community Church in ... more

Photo: BRETT COOMER, HOUSTON CHRONICLE

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Joe Goins and Rob Martinez wait in line at the Harris County Clerk's Office to request marriage licenses on Feb. 14, 2011, in Houston. "You feel like you've been crushed", says Rob Martinez, who married partner Goins the previous day at Resurrection Metropolitan Community Church, and today were denied a marriage licenses. Seven couples lined up today, Valentine's Day, to request marriage licenses and denied. Approximately 50 people also marched to City Hall for a demonstration. less

Joe Goins and Rob Martinez wait in line at the Harris County Clerk's Office to request marriage licenses on Feb. 14, 2011, in Houston. "You feel like you've been crushed", says Rob Martinez, who married partner ... more

Photo: Mayra Beltran, Houston Chronicle

Some local churches ready to perform same-sex marriages

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In the days leading up to Friday's U.S. Supreme Court decision legalizing same-sex marriages, the Rev. Roy Treash could almost hear the wedding bells ringing.

"We've been blessing same-sex unions for 40 years," he said. "We'll start marrying people immediately. People have been waiting for decades to be married in their own home state. They should go get their licenses."

As senior pastor of Houston's Resurrection Metropolitan Community Church - which ministers to gays, lesbians, bisexuals and transsexuals - Treash's enthusiasm for the ruling likely marks an extreme in a debate that has riven the 21st century religious community. But even as some local religious groups adamantly opposed the change, a growing number indicated they would perform such ceremonies as soon as they became legal.

Some sects remain opposed

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Despite Texas' resistance to same-sex marriages - it was one of 13 state banning such ceremonies - clergy from liberal Houston churches, including some United Church of Christ congregations and the Quaker Live Oak Friends Meeting, have officiated at same-sex unions for years.

"People are getting married all over the place," said the Rev. Burton Bagby-Grose, spokesman for the UCC's Houston-based South Central Conference.

Other congregations prepared to move forward with same-sex marriages include First Unitarian Universalist Church and Congregation Beth Israel. Nationally, Presbyterian Church USA earlier this year amended its constitution to allow, but not force, clergy to officiate at same-sex weddings. Same-sex issues have led nine area Presbyterian churches to split from the mother denomination; a 10th possible secession is in progress.

Prominent in opposition to same-sex weddings are Catholic and Southern Baptist congregations.

First Baptist Church, said spokesman Steven Murray, will not perform the ceremonies. With more than 16 million members nationally, the Southern Baptist Convention has gone on record as regarding marriage as a divine institution consisting of one man and one woman.

At Houston's Lakewood Church, the nation's largest Protestant congregation, spokesman Don Illoff agreed, adding that the Supreme Court ruling will not impact the church's core beliefs.

Enlarging on the one-man, one-woman argument, the Rev. Christopher Plant, a spokesman for the Catholic Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston, said heterosexual marriage serves the welfare of children and provides the "structure, stability and prosperity of human civilization."

"It was given to us by God and is part of our nature and who we are," he said. "The institution of marriage existed before the United States, before civil law. ...The redefinition of marriage has all kinds of problems."

Episcopalians, said Carol Barnwell, spokeswoman for the Houston-based Diocese of Texas, will discuss same-sex marriages at their national conference later this month. At present, she said, some churches bless same-sex unions, but none performs marriages.

Methodist Texas Annual Conference spokeswoman Paula Arnold said her denomination will stand by its opposition to same-gender marriages "regardless of any Supreme Court rulings." No change can be made before the church's general conference in 2016, she said.

A Public Religion Research Institute survey released last week found 65 percent of poll participants anticipated the court would overturn state bans. Only 25 percent said the bans would be left intact. The poll found that 60 percent of white mainline Protestants favored legalizing same-sex marriage as did 58 percent of Catholics. Almost six in 10 Republicans said they expected the court to legalize same-sex weddings, but about the same percentage opposed the action.

The Rev. Douglas Anders, conference minister for the UCC's South Central Conference, said that 23 of 71 churches in his Texas-Louisiana jurisdiction have embraced a policy of being "open and affirming."

"They welcome all people, including LGBT persons, into the life and spirit of their churches," he said. "Most (such) churches would allow and encourage their clergy to officiate at same-sex weddings or civil unions."

While individual churches can opt out of performing same-gender weddings, Anders said the move to sanction such ceremonies grew out of a 2005 General Synod decision to support "marriage equity." The national body's decision prompted some congregations to secede, he said.

"We don't demand that every congregation be an 'open and affirming' congregation or that every church must offer same-sex weddings or every church agree on marriage equity," he said.

'Honoring what God created'

Congregation Beth Israel's Senior Rabbi David Lyon said his Reform synagogue subscribes to the position of the Union for Reform Judaism and the Central Conference of American Rabbis, both of which support same-sex marriage.

"Yes, times are changing," he said, "but honoring what God created in all its myriad forms has never changed. It has always been our duty to find beauty and meaning in God's creative acts. How can we not find God's blessing in our LGBTQ sons and daughters, too? They are there."

Lyon said he has officiated at same-sex "commitment ceremonies."

"Though they weren't weddings, they were moments where blessings were conferred upon couples who discovered their 'basherta,' their intended one, with another man or woman," he said. "If and when same-sex weddings are legal in Texas, and if such couples are members of our congregation, then I will serve them as I serve all our members, with dignity and respect, by providing them pre-marital counseling and officiation at their weddings. I don't know a Reform rabbi who wouldn't officiate."

Cathy Guttentag, clerk of Houston's Quaker Live Oak Meeting, said three same-sex weddings have been performed in her congregation since 1994. Additionally, three weddings performed elsewhere have been recognized and recorded by Live Oak worshippers.

Unlike most Christian denominations, Quaker weddings are based by solemn vows crafted - and agreed to - by the marrying individuals.

"Live Oak Friends community based its decision to affirm these loving relationships based on our Quaker belief in the spiritual equality of all people, that everyone is equal in the eyes of God and that this was important to affirm through our practices," she said.

A 'special kind of feeling'

At First Unitarian Universalist Church, Assistant Minister the Rev. Angela Henderson said her church stands ready to wed any loving couple, regardless of gender.

"Our first principle is to honor the inherent worth and dignity of the individual," she said. She speculated that, as Texas resisted recognizing same-sex marriages, many gay and lesbian couples traveled out of state to wed.

Still, she hailed the Supreme Court decision.

"There will always be people who have that special kind of feeling that your own state accepts you and your marriage. That will be pivotal for some couples," she said.

Resurrection Metropolitan Community's Treash said he expects many of his parishioners who have married outside Texas will queue up to repeat their ceremonies. He plans to send out an email to church members saying his chapel is open for business.

Treash and his spouse, Walter - married three years ago in Iowa - will be among them.

"My reason is to be able to go down to the department of motor vehicles and get my real name on my identification," he said. "Up to now, I haven't been able to get a drivers license in my legal name."